This invention relates to an apparatus and method of trailering a small boat in camping areas sometimes on the public highways. It provides a method for easily transporting the boat between a campsite and a launching area, as well as for portaging the boat in areas where it must be removed from the water and hauled to another launching site to continue the trip, without carrying the boat. This apparatus also is stowable in the boat, in order that it is always available for use, even when the boat is not near the original launching site.
It has bead customary for small boats to be transported to and from their launching sites by one of two methods. One method is to use a standard boat trailer, which is hitched to the rear of a car., or other vehicle, and is backed into the water for loading and unloading of the boat. A boat trailer of this type is expensive, and heavy, and not stowable, and can be efficiently used only when a vehicle is available to maneuver it into the necessary positions for launching the boat, or removing it from the water. A trailer of this type is not adaptable to transporting simple, small boats and canoes, and as it would not be needed when the boat is launched, which would be a storage problem for the user.
Another method is to transport the boat on top of a vehicle, then manually remove it and carry it to the water. This method requires some physical strength on the part of the persons handling the boat, and can expose them to the danger of injury, should the boat slip while they are moving it, or be too heavy for them to safely lift and carry the required distance. Also, when launching the boat with a normal trailer, it is normally necessary to wade into the water to launch the boat, and retrieve the trailer. Portaging is also a slow and laborious undertaking, in that the boat and all of its contents must be hauled over land, with nothing except the users physical strength to carry the load from the debarcation site to the new embarcation site.
Several attempts have been made to improve on the traditional methods of trailering small boats. One approach, taught by Kock in U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,564, modifies the winch mechanism used on boat trailers to load and unload the boat. This mechanism uses a pulley to change the direction of the force exerted on the boat by the winch cable, in order that when the trailer is backed into the water and the winch mechanism is activated, a rearward thrust is developed, and the boat moves more readily off the trailer and into the water. This method does not offer any benefits in the task of reloading the boat onto the trailer, and still requires the use of a heavy trailer pulled by a vehicle. It also offers no advantage when portaging is required, since the trailer remains with the vehicle at the original launching site, while the boat is used to travel elsewhere.
Another approach is taught in the art of Grinde, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,779, whereby a tow bar is used when a small boat is connected to the stern of a larger boat for towing. This apparatus uses a flexible bar, which can be coupled to the bow of the towed boat, and which also connects to the transom, or swim platform of the towing craft. This apparatus is not useful for launching a boat, or removing it from the water, and does not provide any help when portaging is required.
Still another approach is taught in the art of wild, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,453,002, whereby a two wheeled transporting device is disclosed, which allows one person to move a small sailboat from one location to another. It incorporates a cradle designed to hold a sailboat having a specific shape, at some point slightly forward of the stern. This provides proper balancing so that one person can maneuver the boat, while avoiding interference with the craft's rudder. This apparatus can be used to launch, or beach a sailboat without scraping it against rocks, or other harmful objects, but this advantage does not extend to portaging, since the apparatus is useful only at the original launching site. It is also limited to boats having a specific shape, so that several versions would be needed to transport boats of different cross sectional shapes, and, it is not stowable.